Big Reactors
Big Reactors is a mod which adds multi-block power systems capable of providing large amounts of RF power to Minecraft. The specific arrangement and material of mod blocks in each multi-block structure determines the performance and behavior of the system as a whole. A power system can be built in one of two ways: a reactor can provide RF power directly, or a reactor can provide super-heated steam which is then pumped into a steam turbine to generate RF power. The latter option is much more expensive, but also much more efficient. The minimum size of a reactor is 3x3x3 blocks whereas the minimum size of a working turbine is 3x4x3. Systems with several multi-block structures of nearly arbitrary size can be built. Big Reactors greatly benefits from the support of mods which provide transport and fluid pipes such as BuildCraft. Overview Reactors use fuel, and the mod provides Yellorium and Ingots for this purpose. Construction Reactors and turbines are multi-block structures: they are made up of individual blocks arranged according to specific rules which together create a large functional machine. Both reactors and turbines must be built as a closed, mostly hollow box with no holes and complete edges, including corners. The edges of this box must be either Reactor Casing or Turbine Housing, respectively. The faces can be either those blocks or Reactor Glass or Turbine Glass. In addition to these containment blocks, a number of other blocks are necessary to make a functioning reactor or turbine. None of the these blocks can be placed on the edge or corner; they must be somewhere in the faces of the reactor, sometimes in very specific places. Right clicking on the reactor casing or turbine housing will tell you if anything is missing. Reactors Reactor Controller All reactors must have exactly one Reactor Controller block. This block provides the main interface for monitoring the status of the reactor. Reactor Access Port Access Ports are buffers that contain unused fuel and waste. Right clicking an access port will bring up an interface where fuel can be added, accumulated waste removed, and input/output mode toggled. An active reactor will use as many units of fuel as it can from access ports set to 'Inlet Mode' and dump waste into access ports set to 'Outlet Mode'. A Big Reactor needs at least one access port. Yellorium Fuel Rod The core of the reactor is an arrangement of Yellorium Fuel Rods. Fuel rods must be stacked to stretch the entire interior height of the reactor. The entire volume of the reactor can be fuel rods, but it does not have to be. Reactor Control Rod Above each stack of fuel rods there must be a Reactor Control Rod, This tells the reactor where the fuel rods are so it can fill them with fuel. Reactor Power Tap Reactors that provide RF energy directly include at least one Reactor Power Tap. This can attach to anything that accepts RF power. Reactor Coolant Port Reactor Coolant Ports allow fluids to be injected into and drained from the reactor. Reactors that provide RF directly use coolant ports to keep the core at a safe operating temperature. Those that run steam turbines use coolant ports to feed the turbine with steam. Reactor Coolant Efficiency A fluid coolant is used to keep a reactor at a safe operating temperature. Reactors that run too hot for too long can fail, catastrophically. A variety of fluids can be used, and the following table details the efficiency in the same design of each coolant relative to Diamond, which is assumed to be 100% efficient. Turbine Optimization Click here for optimized turbine designs for various coil materials from FTBWiki! General Notes: * Turbines convert steam into water at a 1:1 ratio, and produce a certain amount of RF/t depending on the coil material and turbine design. * Steam intake is always between 0 and 2000 mB/t. * The rotor speed quage only shows between 0 and 2200 RPM, but the actual rotor speed can be higher. * Generated energy is always positive or 0. * The width of the turbine frame is not a factor of energy output. * The number of rotor shafts isn't a very large factor of energy output. Use whatever dimensions you wish or can fit in your base. * If maximum rotor speed is unlimited (as it is currently) and 2000 mB/t of steam is available, it is always most efficient to use 80 rotor blades (for existing materials). But when rotor speed is limited to 2000 (as is suggested for the future), sometimes more rotor shafts and fewer rotor blades must be used in order to keep the rotor speed above 1796.27 but below 2000 RPM while optimizing energy output. Rotor Materials For each rotor block in the turbine (the shaft and blade), a certain mass is added depending on the rotor material. Currently (as of 0.3.4A2) any material will have a mass of 10 units per block. In the future the mod developer plans to allow the rotor to be constructed out of different materials. Trivia * On Valentine's Day, turbines spawn hearts instead of steam cloud particles, and reactors spawn hearts instead of heat packet particles. This has no effect on game mechanics and is purely a graphical change. Video